Therapy
by abetternameneeded
Summary: Alice Jones' first meeting with Dr. Archie Hopper


Alice Jones stood outside of a door. Dr. Archie Hopper's door to be exact. She'd never been to this kind of doctor. But Robin and papa had both suggested it might help. Help with the one thing she was scared of. Help her make sense of everything that had happened in her life. And she didn't think they were wrong. She didn't think any part of her life had been what one would call normal. Not that it not being normal made it bad, but some parts were bad. And maybe he could help her understand some of the bad bits. Help her with her bad days. Help her make sense of the fact she had two lives in her head. She was Alice Jones. She knew that. But she was also Tilly, for a while. Sort of. Not really. Parts of those memories weren't real but some of them were. Like the date with Margot! That had been a a good day that had gone very bad very quickly. Okay she was ready.

A man opened the door, this must be Dr. Archie Hopper, what was she actually supposed to call him? She'd ask him when she got the chance. Oh there was a dog. She liked dogs. They'd been a weird thing at first but they were usually so nice and always very soft. She couldn't help herself as she bounced in place. She didn't like staying still. And she was a little bit nervous, she wasn't quite sure how this worked.

Archie invited his new patient into his office. "Hi, I'm Dr. Hopper. Or Archie, whichever you prefer."

"I'm Alice, but I think you knew that."

Archie nodded. Alice walked into the room. It was kind of small. She didn't mind small rooms as long as the door stayed open. She never felt comfortable once doors were shut. It was even worse when they were locked. Far worse when they were locked. Because then what if it didn't unlock? She'd been alone so lng she really didn't want to be stuck anywhere again.

Archie went to shut the door. It would help prevent people that shouldn't be in the room from entering.

This didn't sit well with Alice. If the door was shut she might be trapped, maybe not alone. But she would be trapped again.

Archie glanced at her. She looked uncomfortable as she made a request he had never heard before,

"Could we leave that open?"

Archie wasn't sure how to respond. But he didn't shut the door. "TIhat's fine. Let's get started, whenever you're ready." Archie sat down in his chair.

"I am," Alice told him pacing mildly around the room just behind the couch that was set up to make it easier to speak to each other.

"Alice, I have a couch." Archie watched as Alice continued to move around, honestly it was a lot more movement than he was used to.

He motioned towards the couch to offer her a place to sit, thinking maybe she just hadn't seen it. Not that it was possibly to miss the large couch in the room but Archie wasn't sure.

"I'd rather stand." Alice paused bth her speech and her movement for a moment ,thinking. "Actually, I'd rather move around a bit more than just standing. Is that okay?" Alice really wasn't sure how this was supposed to work.

"Okay, that's fine. Let's start. You looked really uncomfortable when I tried to shut the door. Is there a reason why?"

"I'm scared I'll be trapped again."

Archie glanced at her. She didn't seem to be able to stay still for long . And she had said again. Had it happened before. Was her behavior a result of something specific? "Again?" he questioned.

"I was locked in a tower the first," Alice paused briefly to think through the math "Seventeen years of my life."

Archie's eyes widened. That was not what he had expected. "At first it wasn't so bad, I didn't like it but my papa was there but then he wasn't and I was alone and I really don't like being alone. It was really quiet." she started to get absorbed in memories of staying awake for days as the silence would leave her wishing for anyone or anything to make the slightest sound to lull her to sleep. The days she'd sleep until the sun set again because there was nothing else for her to do. The times she'd have tea parties with a hat and a stuffed rabbit and hope that the voices she gave them could quell her desperaation for just some contact. ANY contact with the world. She forgot where she was for a while talking more and more about how much it hurt to be alone. How much she wanted to be free. How much she wanted papa back. How much she had missed him. They had been such simple request and yet so far out of her reach.

"I'd talk to my toys and get them to talk back to me. I knew it wasn't real but I just needed to talk to someone. It got really quiet. I didn't like being alone. I still don't."

"No one does," Archie comforted her.

Alice jumped. She'd forggoten there was another person around. She did that sometimes. She'd been alone so long that she'd get lost in her own thoughts and forget people were around her.

"Did I scare you?" Archie asked her.

"Aye, I forgot you were there."

Archie's nod had solemn air to it, Alice had been through hell and yet had been nothing but kind to him since she'd entered the room. A bit strange but beyond that? She seemed to have adjusted to the world fairly well. They continued to talk until the time was up and set up more apointments as there was no way they could talk about everthing that had happened in just one hour.

**A/N: Thanks to tumblr user: wicked-storybrooke for the help with the ideas on how Alice might behave in this situation.**


End file.
